About

PreSchool Partners, a 501c3 organization, is a program dedicated to preparing inner-city preschool children and their parents for kindergarten in the Birmingham Public Schools. The program began in 1995 after volunteer tutors realized that the children they were tutoring were starting school without the skills needed for academic success. Research has shown that children who start school behind, stay behind. PreSchool Partners was founded on the belief that every child deserves access to a quality preschool program. Children who experience success in the primary grades are far more likely to graduate from high school. The mission of PreSchool Partners is to equip families of at risk preschool children with the skills necessary to achieve school readiness.

Every year, our program serves 132 people, 66 children and 66 parents. These children will attend either Norwood Elementary School or Whatley Elementary School in north Birmingham. This population is considered at risk and under-served. We provide classroom activities for the three and four year old children each Monday through Friday where they learn numbers, letters, shapes, colors, and general classroom behavior skills. The children also have enrichment classes that include computer training, music, dance, and art instruction. The children in our program receive over 800 hours of instruction.

One component that is unique to PreSchool Partners and sets it apart from other preschools is that the program requires the parents to attend school one morning a week with their child. PreSchool Partners strongly believes that in order for a child to be successful in school, there must be parental involvement. The National Education Association reports that the earlier parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects. The parents attend class each Monday on a variety of subjects such as stress and anger management, nutrition, child development, family literacy, and money management. The parents in our program receive over 100 hours of instruction.

PreSchool Partners also provides vital health screenings for its students so that any deficiencies can be detected and corrected before the child begins kindergarten, thus removing any barriers to learning. These screenings include vision, hearing, dental, and speech and language. We help the parents obtain the services needed to treat any problems found during the screenings. We have a speech therapist on our staff so if a child needs speech therapy, he is able to get it on site. We also assist the parents in obtaining health insurance for their children if they do not have it.

Additionally, transportation to school is provided daily from Norwood and Whatley Schools by PreSchool Partners. Providing transportation is a significant cost to the program, but we believe it is vital since so many of the families do not have reliable transportation. By providing transportation to and from school, we are able to ensure more consistent attendance for our students.

PreSchool Partners also has a very successful family literacy program called "Families Reading Together." Every Monday, the parents in the program are given a children’s book that is theirs to keep. The parents read the book in their class with an instructor and discuss different ways to engage their children in reading and support their reading readiness skills. At home, the parents and children read the book together and complete homework activities that go along with the book. The families in the program receive over 28 books during the school year so that they are able to establish a library at home with quality children’s books. The "Families Reading Together" program not only teaches the parents the importance of reading to their children, it gives them the tools to accomplish this.